My June 2023 Reads

I had three short trips in June: New York for a nephew’s graduation, Ontario for a short family trip, and DC for a two-day conference, and these reduced my reading time this month and made what I did read distinctly lighter. Plus, I am still reading Middlemarch, although I am nearly done and very much enjoying it.  Here we are!

Fiction

Happy Place by Emily Henry (2023) (audio). A group of six look forward and vacation together each summer in Maine but this year Harriet and Wyn feel they must hide their breakup or destroy their friend group. As I said to my niece, despite having a problem with books based on a misunderstanding that should have been cleared up with a candid conversation or two, I enjoyed this but some readers might be infuriated. Henry has become a big bestseller and I have now read three of her books but I hesitate to recommend them because one doesn’t feel afterward as if they were a great use of time. I don’t usually feel that way about my reading – I accept that some books are better than others and move on but for someone who reads just one or two books a month, I think the time could be better spent. Here is a recent article about Henry.

One Fine Day by Molly Panter-Downes (1946). The author, a former contributor to the New Yorker, captures a long summer day in which Laura struggles with household chores yet looks forward to the future. This is one of my 20 Books of Summer. My review.

Watch Us Shine by Marisa de los Santos (2023). After Cornelia Brown rushes to the hospital when her mother is hit by a car, she realizes she knows nothing about her mother’s childhood and starts digging, only to find a surprising family secret.  My review.

Mystery/Suspense

They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha Christie (1952). Miss Marple is asked to visit an old friend in the country who might be in danger and when a murder takes place, she is there to help the police find the motive and the killer. This is one of my 20 Books of Summer. My review.

The Translator by Harriet Crawley (2023). When translator Clive Franklin is summoned to accompany the British Prime Minister to Russia for top-secret meetings, he is reunited with an old lover who is close to the Russian president but wants to escape the danger and corruption. The British won’t help her unless she secures valuable information for them. My review.

Romance

A Marriage of Inconvenience by Penny Reid (2018) (audio). Kat Tanner has gone through bad times and survived but now her cousin wants to have her institutionalized so he can take her shares in the family pharmaceutical company. In desperation, she asks her long-time crush Dan O’Malley to marry her, so she will have a legal safeguard against her cousin’s plotting. I enjoyed this despite some holes in the plot and a lot of bad language that is more noticeable in an audiobook.

Pas de Don’t by Chloe Angyal (2023). This is a delightful debut contemporary romance set in the cutthroat world of ballet that will appeal to fans of Lucy Parker. Angyal is also the author of a nonfiction book on ballet and her expertise shows. Added bonus, it is set in New York and Sydney, Australia. My review.

The Wake-Up Call by Beth O’Leary (2023). Two hotel staffers must put aside their rivalry to help save their place of employment - and perhaps carefree Izzy and serious Lucas don’t really dislike each other as much as they thought. This is from the author of The Flatshare, which was a surprise hit several years ago.

YA

Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly (1942). The summer after her senior year of high school Angie Morrow falls for Jack Duluth, and Daly perfectly captures the highs and lows of first love. This was the June selection of the de Grummond Book Group and I was very surprised that other readers did not like this book as much as I do. I think I’ll be vindicated when my friend Barb reads it. My review.

My Second Impression of You by Michelle Mason (2022). When Maggie’s boyfriend Theo unexpectedly dumps her and she breaks her foot, she is forced to sit out all the theatrical productions she’d set her heart on for several months. However, all this extra time on her hands forces Maggie to realize that her self-absorption caused her to neglect her family and friends, and she gets an unexpected way to relive and rescript some of the moments that led to this point.

A Single Thread of Moonlight by Laura Wood (2021). A Cinderella story about a young woman abused by her evil stepmother, who escapes, rebuilds her life, and then wants revenge. It surprises me that Wood is not better known as her books are delightful and somewhat reminiscent of Eva Ibbotson’s historical romances, which have a following.  Moira from Clothes in Books would drool over the clothing descriptions in this book - Iris is a gifted seamstress.  I did not get a chance to review this before I gave it to my sister but I loved it.